Distributor New Age Electronics said last week that it has big plans for training its dealers for the upcoming launch of Microsoft's Windows 8. Windows 8 sports both a radical new design and greater integration over PCs, tablets and eventually smartphones.

The strategy, New Age Electronics president Fred Towns told Dealerscope in a briefing Friday, is an effort to "try and put together more toolsets to try to help [our dealers]. With technologies or strategies, to help stimulate business or help them better equipped for fall holiday business."

A big key to that strategy is Bob Culliton, a vice president for New Age's parent company Synnex since last September and a former national retail sales manager with Microsoft. According to Towns, Culliton has been reaching out to his former Microsoft colleagues to strategize for the launch. New Age, in turn, has been working with its vendor partners on the products as well, in order to "show how they can be successful with Windows 8."

New Age has been working on demo PCs in order to immerse both its own team and partners in the new product. The company plans to beginning engaging next month for early preparedness, followed by a "deep-dive product education" between mid-June and mid-August." A Synnex and New Age-hosted Windows 8 microsite will launch June 2, which will include a product feature guide.

The Windows 8 launch itself is expected to take place at some point this fall, and New Age plans to help dealers prepare for selling Windows 8 products for the holidays. The forthcoming Windows 8 launch will also be a big part of the presentation at New Age's dealer summit in Chicago this August.

"We're going through a deep education of our team," Towns said. "We want to be the product experts and be a consultant to our retail partners. We want to educate retailers son the functionality of the system… and share with them the key messaging points."